Big Sis was starting to tire of Junie B. Jones - she loves Junie B., but hadn't read anything else in a while! - so she checked this one out from the school library. We actually owned a copy I scored at a used bookstore warehouse sale, but she didn't know that. She started it on her own, then decided her little sister would like it, too, and asked if we could read it at bedtime. Sure enough, both girls loved it and are excited to check out book 2! (I scored several Magic Tree House books, but not book 2.)

This picture book is a stunner. It isn't so much a book about the concept of infinity, as about what the idea feels like to a young child. Indeed, Hosford uses real quotes from children describing infinity. Swiatkowska's illustrations take the book to a whole new level. This was a perfect stuck-at-home-in-a-blizzard kind of book. It's a wonderful springboard to your own question-and-answer session with your kids about what infinity means to them.

I checked this one out after reading Whitney's post about it on Pen Pals & Picture Books. I read it on my own and intended to read it to the girls. I love books about playing make-believe! But I passed it off to their daddy instead. Something about it struck me as the perfect daddy read. Sure enough, he came back to the family room to tell me, "That King Jack book was really great!" So there's an endorsement from Mr. B.

I started this series when I was still employed at my old bookstore job, and now I've seen it through to its conclusion. This isn't my favorite series in the world. The neat conclusions always seem too fantastic to me. But I love the concept. A group of girls and their mothers in Concord, MA spend a year reading a classic book (or series), exploring the stories and the authors, surprised to see how the books may apply to their own modern lives. They're easy, light reads, and a pleasant way to introduce classics to younger readers. As you may have surmised by the title, this book finds the girls reading Jane Eyre, one of my all-time favorites.

What We're Reading

The BFGby Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake. Originally published in the US by Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1982. Ours is a Scholastic book club edition, published by arrangement with the current publisher, Puffin/Penguin.

We're not very far into this yet, but I'm loving it! I'm not certain about the girls yet. I'll keep you posted.

Nancy Clancy, Super Sleuthby Jane O'Connor, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser.
Big Sis is tackling this one on her own. She tried it late last year, but it was still a bit difficult for her. Now she claims to have no trouble with it at all! I'll have to borrow it from her.

It was the only American Girl movie we hadn't seen, and Mr. B scored the DVD for cheap at Big Lots. I have to admit, I love these movies. The heroines are smart and resourceful, and the stories are educational. I wish they would make more, especially featuring the minority Girls.

Cat Doorman (aka Julianna Bright) is a musician I saw featured on Apartment Therapy last month. The bright CD cover art called out to me, but I didn't want to purchase anything without hearing it first. When the CD finally hit Spotify, we gave it a listen. It definitely passed the test! It's a joyful album, and I've happily downloaded it (LEGALLY, always) since for our collection. And check out some of the other cool Julianna Bright posts on AT: I love this wizard scroll craft and her daughter's room is one of my favorite AT room tours ever!

Tomorrow is Saturday, March 2nd: Read Across America! Celebrated in conjunction with Dr. Seuss's birthday, there are events all over the US. If you can't make it to an event, read something Seuss-ian or download your own activities! (I always loved the Read Across America event kits we received at the bookstore every year. I love reading Dr. Seuss books aloud to kids.)

So that is our week around here, beyond talk of snow and missed school. We wish you all a Merry Weekend! Happy Reading!

Oh- I am for sure getting the Infinity and Me book!!! Bibs is obsessed with infinity and what it means and what it could be... very cool. I really hope my library has it! and I really love your owl poster! So great! The play room looks fantastic!

I really like the American Girl movies, at least the historical character movies. The Felicity one was cute - it starred the girl who went on to play George Clooney's daughter in The Descendents, with Marcia Gay Hardin and John Schneider as her parents - but it's probably my least favorite of the bunch. The Samantha movie stars AnnaSophia Robb, with Mia Farrow as Grandmere. Samantha comes from a wealthy family, but she becomes friends with servant girl Nellie and her sisters. She moves to NY and learns about child labor. The Molly movie is all about life on the homefront during WWII. My grandma watched that one with the girls and it was a fantastic bonding experience, as my grandma would have been that age during the same time period. The Kit Kittridge movie is about the Depression and not passing judgment on those less fortunate. They're well done family movies.

Oh the american girl movies sound great-and so does the infinity and me book! The mother-daughther book club sounds fun too, as for king jack and the dragon, it's already on my wish list (which keeps growing, especially when I find all those cool books on your blog almost every day- i have to refrain myself all the time from pushing that buy-with-one-click button or I'll ruin the family budget!)

My son got a Magic Tree House book in a gift bag at a birthday party several weeks ago (isn't that the BEST gift bag idea ever???) and has since been obsessed- we're on Book 18 right now! I love that it's been his introduction to "chapter books" and that the window for him being excited about reading is wide open. Great post- I'm here via Julia's Bookbag and I'm loving your blog! Following~

Books are our favorite presents, to give and to receive. We took a break from Magic Tree House just long enough to read the two books in the Nancy Clancy chapter book series. (Our hold for Book 2 came into the library rather suddenly!) We're very excited to start the next MTH! I've seen you on Melissa's blog before. Thank you for stopping by! I'm following you, too.

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